Search - Tomasz Stanko :: Suspended Night

Beautiful Jazz Played Strangely Beautifully

W. Dent | Baltimore, MD | 03/04/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In this age of super musicians playing super humanly and writing songs designed to show us mortal just how superly they can play, comes The Thomas Stanko Quartet! This quartet plays incredibly beautiful jazz as if they have nothing to prove. Suspended Night reminds us that at the bottom line, it is about the music after all. Superior musicianship which carries the day by being musical. Michael Miskiewicz is one of today's most musical drummers! His service to the music which surrounds him champions the idea that the drums are a musical instrument as much as the piano, bass, or any other instrument upon which a melody can be played. The entire band proves that you don't have to be loud in order to convey powerful emotion (listen to Suspended Variations III in which the left hand bass part on the piano serves as hero of the day). It has been said that this band plays as one mind and I who have just discovered Thomas Stanko's Quartet can wholeheartedly testify to that statement. Much can be written about the technical mastery of The Thomas Stanko Quartet but I believe much more can be gained by grabbing your favorite beverage (coffee, tea, brandy, cognac, etc.) with which to relax, lower the lights and just sit back to listen. Suspended Night is a master class in jazz chords,arrangement, and progression but for me....well, I just like the way it makes me feel! Strangely beautiful jazz played beautifully!"

New Directions in Jazz

Keegan R. Lerch | Bethlehem, PA | 11/26/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's always nice to listen to an artist whom you have never heard of, and be completely knocked off your feet. That's what happened to me when I found this album by Tomasz Stanko. First I thought to myself, what an interesting name, and, wow, all of the other guys on this album have names that I can barely pronounce. Then, I saw that it was on ECM, one of my favorite labels to find new, cutting edge jazz. Well, these soon became afterthoughts, because I popped the album in my CD player and was immediatetly struck by the beauty of the music being created by the Tomasz Stanko quartet.

Tomasz Stanko, who I have since done some research on (and have already started looking at other albums of his), is from Poland, and decided to work with some younger teenagers from his homeland. Stanko began working with Marcin Wasilewski, Slawomir Kurkiewicz, and Michal Miskiewicz on film work back in the mid 1990s, and the relationship has blossomed into an amazing jazz quartet. One of the most stunning things about this album how the beauty has not faded after multiple listenings; I am still struck by the openess and breathing room that these musicians work with and create. Stanko, who wrote all of the songs, has chosen to work with an intelligent performers who are shaping how jazz can, and will be conceived. Wasilewski's piano playing is one of my favorite attributes of the album (and this group), his harmonizations are interesting and push jazz forward; and it reminds me of Bill Evans most of all. Stanko's trumpet playing floats effortlessly above the wash of colors that his rhythm section offers him; he creates a dark, mysterious tone with his horn which interweaves with the sparceness of the ensemble.

The opening ballad, "Song for Sarah," is a beautiful song which rises out of the myst and is driven by compelling harmonies. The Suspend Night Variations, which fill out the rest of the album, are a canvas of laid-back, flowing, sometimes mysterious, and always beautiful jazz work. The interplay between these musicians is of a high caliber and the music seems to just flow out of everyone to create a wonderful collage of sounds that are extremely pleasing to listen to. This music moves in slow arcs and subtleties, which ultimately gives meaning to the title of the album and can leave the listener feeling slightly "suspended." I recommend this album to any Jazz listener, but especially to those who are seeking where jazz is headed, and the artists who have their finger on the pulse of modern music."

A great album from Poland

James L. Settle | San Antonio, Texas | 02/19/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I wasn't sure I'd like European jazz when I bought this album. No worries; it's turned out to be great!



Tomasz Stanko isn't a new player on the block. But this album is the first time I'd ever heard OF him. Now that I've actually heard him, I'm glad I bought it. I've always been a big Miles Davis fan, and Stanko blows a few bars that even old hard-to-please Miles would have approved of.



Give him a listen. This isn't his only good album, but it's a good place to start."